Technology Archives

Redefining What it Means to be a B2B Technology and AI Branding Firm

Posted on September 3, 2023September 14, 2026 by Emotive Brand

This year pushed us to refine how we work with B2B technology and AI companies to deliver brand positioning that resonates—tight budgets, big expectations, and the ever-present need to differentiate forced us to deliver smarter and stronger. The lessons we learned didn’t just challenge us—they made us better.

They sharpened how we deliver impact and aligned us even closer with our clients. And the outcomes? They speak for themselves. Here’s what we learned about speed, emotion, simplicity, and alignment—and how those lessons are driving real sustainable growth.

The Speed Trap

Speed is non-negotiable these days. Clients demand it, and we’ve gotten pretty good at delivering—getting them what they need, in the way they need it, and at the level of quality we’re known for. But here’s the thing: speed only works when it’s a team effort, and that means getting stakeholder engagement from the start.

What I’ve learned is this: you can’t wheel in your CEO at the end and expect them to be on board with your new brand positioning and strategy. If they’re part of the decision, they need to go on the journey with us. When that happens, speed isn’t just fast—it’s transformative. You get that unanimous “Yes, let’s launch this” kind of moment, where the team is aligned and energized. And that alignment often leads to bigger budgets, more opportunities, and an even greater impact.

The irony? Speed doesn’t mean less input—it means more. It requires buy-in, collaboration, and executive involvement at every stage. When that’s in place, speed becomes a strategy for not just delivering fast but for delivering bold, game-changing brand transformation.

Mergers and Acquisitions is an Emotional Journey

M&A is often framed as a numbers game—valuations, synergies, integrations. But what I’ve learned is that mergers aren’t just strategic—they’re deeply emotional. You’re asking people to let go of what they know, trust new teams, and find their place in a completely reimagined structure and company culture.

Here’s the truth: getting the product architecture right is where it starts. It’s not just a technical exercise—it’s about helping people see how their work fits into something bigger. Driving internal engagement takes empathy, emotional intelligence, and a lot of patience. When leaders and teams go on that journey together, you can move past the fear and resistance that derail so many mergers and acquisitions.

When the product and brand architecture is clear, everything else—company culture, brand positioning, and go-to-market strategy—starts to align. But if you skip this step, the whole thing falls apart. The real work of M&A isn’t just building a unified company—it’s building trust in what comes next.

Emotion as a Strategic Catalyst

For years, emotion was dismissed as soft or secondary to logic. But this year, I saw that narrative change. Leaders are finally recognizing that emotion isn’t a nice-to-have—it’s a strategic force that drives brand growth, brand loyalty, and product innovation.

In B2B technology and AI especially, emotion plays a critical role. It’s what builds trust, inspires confidence, and creates the kind of connection that sets your brand apart. Decisions in this space carry personal and professional risk—people don’t just want rational benefits, they need to feel like they’re making the right choice.

What I’ve learned is that emotion isn’t optional anymore. It’s how you differentiate in a crowded market. It’s how you connect with your team and customers on a deeper level. And it’s how you transform your brand from something people notice into something they believe in.

Great Work Comes From Great Partnerships

I’ve always believed trust is the foundation of great work, but this year reinforced just how important it is. The best projects weren’t just about deliverables—they were about partnerships built on trust and mutual respect.

When leaders let us in—when they trust us to challenge their thinking on brand strategy and positioning and push them toward their biggest ambitions to achieve sustainable growth—that’s when the magic happens. These partnerships didn’t end when the project wrapped—they stayed connected. They came back to us for advice, shared their wins, and asked for guidance on new challenges.

The takeaway? The best work happens when you stop treating the relationship as transactional. It’s not just about the results you deliver—it’s about the trust you build along the way.

The Hard Truth About Simplicity

Everyone says they want simplicity. Clients want clear brand positioning, differentiated product positioning, cohesive product and brand architecture, and straightforward brand narratives. But here’s the hard truth: simplicity isn’t hard because it’s complex—it’s hard because it means letting go.

Letting go of old narratives. Letting go of the way things have always been sold. Letting go of the familiar and embracing something new. That’s emotional—there’s fear in leaving behind what feels safe, even when it’s not working anymore.

But when you push through that resistance, simplicity becomes transformational. It sharpens your story, aligns your team, and makes your brand or platform truly customer-centric. Simplicity isn’t a shortcut—it’s a leap of faith. And when you take it, the impact is undeniable.

The hardest work isn’t about strategic frameworks or deliverables—it’s about getting to the heart of what matters. Simplifying complexity, building trust, and leaning into emotion aren’t easy, but they’re where real transformation happens.

It’s Been a Year

This year brought challenges and clarity. For that, I’m grateful—grateful to our team, our clients, and mostly to my ride-or-die business partner and best friend for navigating it all with me. She just knows how to make shit happen.

AI and Machine Learning: A Future Forward for Brands?

Posted on June 28, 2018August 1, 2025 by Saja Chodosh

The Future, It’s Here: AI and Machine Learning

It’s easy to think of an AI-led world as a thing of the future – that movie-like image where robots run hotels, TV ads know your name, and data is more valuable than the gold people ran to California for decades ago.

Yes, the future is blurry, exciting, full of fear, and countless unknowns. Yes, it is changing every day – and fast. But the future is happening, now. In fact, AI is already integrated into the way each of us experience brands every day – even if we don’t know it. You wake up in the morning and ask Alexa what the weather is. You Google Map how to get to your meeting and blast your Spotify Discover Weekly playlist on your drive. You buy a new book based on an Amazon recommendation. You scroll content on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter – all while your bank is making sure you’re safe from credit card fraud. There’s AI integrated into all of those brand experiences.

And it’s no longer something solely owned by the tech giants. Smart businesses and brands – big and small, old and new, B2B and B2C – who want to elevate their brand experiences and build a brand fit for the future are investing in AI and machine learning in innovative and strategic ways, today.

It’s Complicated

Right now, the breadth of AI is huge, and it’s only getting bigger. AI is being used to improve decision making, fuel creativity, increase speed and flexibility, and personalize at scale. Right now, AI assistants are being trained to display complex human emotions like sympathy. Brands like Microsoft are building teams of data scientists, data sustainers, poets, playwrights, and novelists to develop the right AI personality for their brand. Autodesk’s Dreamcatch is being programed to enhance the imagination and fuel the creativity of the most exceptional designers out there. At the same time, GDPR regulations are arising intricate and important questions surrounding privacy and data collection. Teams are hiring in-house ethicists to help navigate issues. With every innovation, comes another challenge.

Each day, the circumference of possibility expands. And this can be overwhelming for brands and businesses trying to find their place in the future.

A New World of AI and Machine Learning

As a brand strategy agency that works to help brands navigate their space and build better experiences for the people that matter, we have also been watching AI. There is so much to consider, but here are some insights we are keeping top of mind.

1. Voice Matters

In the same way that people can be disappointed or delighted by an experience with a customer representative, they will also have an opinion of your chatbot or AI system. So what’s important for brands building chatbots today (as are many) to remember is that the voice of your AI system must reinforce everything you want people to believe about your brand.

Alexa is confident and polite but Siri, unlike Alexa, is sassy. This distinction in voice reveals a difference in brand. Apple strategically built Siri to be just like it’s brand – individual, bold, not afraid to say something different. Sephora’s Kik bot is conversational, fun, in-the-know, and a little bit sparkly (think emojis galore) – just like the teen-targeted brand. On the other hand, Microsoft’s Cortana is helpful, but not bossy. So like any new touchpoint, put strategic thought into the experience and use it to reinforce your brand.

2. Decisions, Decisions – Better? Faster? Stronger?

Take Stitch Fix – an online clothing retailer that offers subscription clothing and styling service. The differentiator? Users don’t actually shop for clothes. Instead, they give measurements, connect their Pinterest boards, submit personal notes of preference, and fill out style surveys. Stitch Fix’s machine learning algorithms take in this data and communicate key findings to the company’s fashion stylists (real life humans!).

In short, AI superpowers the productivity and effectiveness of those stylists’ decisions. With greater speed and better accuracy, stylists can recommend even more creative, personalized, in-tune clothing options. The data collected in the process allows Stitch Fix to see style trends before the market itself catches on. The brand even develops fashions entirely born from data – which they term “frankenstyles.”

The collaboration between machine learning technologies and creative, visionary employees is key here. When you join the forces of human and artificial intelligence, amazing things happen. Innovation increases, creativity soars, and employees can hone their strengths. So never forget about the power and intelligence of your employees – you’ll always need their capabilities.

3. Extreme Personalization at Scale

We’ve talked again and again about the power of personalization – and, the demand for it. Now, AI gives brands the opportunity to achieve unprecedented levels of personalization, at scale.

For example, Mercedes-Benz created Cobot arms (with AI-technology) that act as extensions of their own employees on the ground. These cobots allow employees to do less manual labor and heavy lifting, and act as pilots of the robots. Customers at the dealership want to see the car with leather seats? Add new dashboard components? This innovation creates the agility to customize right there. No two cars that leave the dealership have to be the same. And customers can see their unique desires become realities in real time.

Considering the moments and experiences you can tailor to your customer’s needs and desires can be one of the best ways of tapping into the power of AI.

4. Trust, Transparency – Are You There?

Although, there is a lot of buzz out there surrounding AI – there is little talk of trust.

And in a world where what privacy is being questioned more than ever, leaks in data happen every day, discussions around face recognition and data collection ethics are commonplace, and new rules and regulations are emerging in response, ultimately, brand trust matters more than crazy algorithm or hyper intelligent robot.

GDPR gives consumers the right to receive an explanation for any algorithm-based decision. Businesses globally are hiring what people call “AI sustainers” – employees who work to ensure that the systems are working properly, safely, responsibly, and ethically. This all comes in response to a greater demand for transparency, and a larger need for trust – one that has been bubbling over for quite some time.

So put resources and focus towards building trust before you launch into something that risks jeopardizing it. And never forget to be human – brands that feel human to people build better, more trust-filled relationships.

Like Anything, Get Strategic

The future might be here, but the fact is that brands are still struggling to use AI technologies to solve real business problems. It’s not that the tech doesn’t work, it’s that people aren’t clear around how to actually use it strategically.

Part of what’s so scary for brands and consumers alike is how open the world of AI seems. It’s expansive and complex – a huge and often risky investment for brands who might not sure how to approach it.

The worry is that AI becomes a black box. So if you choose to invest in AI, don’t make it just another separate R&D initiative. Get people around the table – not just data scientists, but leaders and creatives too – to think strategically about how AI can strengthen your brand, deepen and complement your employees strengths, help you connect with the right people, position you for growth, and ultimately fuel your business into the future.

That’s the future we can’t wait for.

Emotive Brand is a San Francisco brand strategy and design agency.

The Value of a Sales-Led Positioning For High-Tech Companies

Posted on August 1, 2016August 1, 2025 by Paige Lansing Valle

A Sales Perspective

Tracy Lloyd, founding partner and Chief Strategy Officer of Emotive Brand, shares how her sales background informs her work today, and offers insights on the true value of bringing sales to the strategy table.

Tell us about your sales background.

I have an interesting background that has led me to the agency world, and on to brand strategy. Initially, I got my start in non-profit fundraising and development. A start-up CEO bought an expensive table from me to attend a gala event I was hosting. Throughout the sales process of getting that deal done, he said to me that I was in the wrong job, and thought I should be in sales … at his company. And so I did. And from there, I sold technology for many years—some emerging technologies, other enterprise solutions—in the states and living as an expat overseas.

How does your background shape your approach?

Everyone brings their past experiences and jobs with them. My background happens to be in sales. And I bring that knowledge into our approach at Emotive Brand.

Because I know how to sell and understand what it takes to be successful in sales, I focus a lot of my time there. It helps me back into brand strategy. With a sales mindset, I can reach a full understanding of how to position and sell technology to the enterprise. In fact, I’ve realized I can’t really brand something until I know how to sell it. I need to grasp what’s working and what’s not from the perspective of the sales team.

Since the sales team is closest to customers, they have a strong understanding of what customers need to buy. They are naturally driven to be successful. And they want everything at their disposal to be successful. They are the people I want to spend time with so I can witness first-hand what is going on. Understanding what will help them helps fuel our own team and our work. It is also a good reality check for me to balance what I hear from other parts of the organization directly for myself, and to witness the realities of what it is like for the sales team who is out on the front line.

Other people might come from different angles, but I think that this particular angle is something that is distinct to the way we work at Emotive Brand. I think it differentiates the way we approach strategy.

So sales teams are involved in your brand strategy process?

Yes. I like to involve them in a few, key places in our process. Early on, I like to go on sales calls and listen in whenever possible. It helps me get grounded in what’s going on. I listen to their pitch – how they address objections and how they position the technology. I pay attention to tone of voice. I look for signs that indicate that the customer understands. I want to know the exact point at which a no transforms to a yes, and then pinpoint why.

Later on, I like to involve sales when we begin work on prioritizing target audiences and then again when we are developing the value proposition(s) and messaging. At the end of the day, so many aspects of brand strategy have value by being vetted by sales – positioning, messaging, defining categories, and go-to-market strategies. I gather huge insights from the sales team – insights, I might not be able to get anywhere else. It’s my job to ladder back these findings and connect all the dots, and from there build the most impactful strategy possible.

It is obvious to work with the marketing team when developing a brand strategy. It’s not as obvious to work with the sales organization. But, for us, it works. Bringing sales to the table creates alignment, and breeds a better, stronger, smarter end product.

What kind of clients are your skills in sales of particular value to?

We work with a lot of high-growth startups that are going to market with products and services that are new, and often times inconceivable to most people today. They’ve built and engineered products that are ahead of the marketplace. This requires hard work from the brand in order to cut through the clutter. Our clients need help clearly articulating their true value to customers. Often times the market needs help understanding the brand’s value proposition and our clients need these tools to help their marketing and sales teams execute successfully. They need to quickly penetrate the market and sometimes even create a new market when one doesn’t exist. We have done our very best work for companies who have complex B2B technology, are beginning to sell into the enterprise, and who need to create new value for old thinking.

Where does brand strategy come in to play?

Brand strategy is about solving business problems. It’s as simple as that. All of our clients come to us with a business problem and we create a strategy to solve it. Most often the problems we are solving are about growth, differentiation, and creating a strong value proposition. Our clients almost always have a solid understanding of the features and benefits their product offers, but leading with that is not working. They may not know it at the time, but this is where the brand needs to step in and help them better tell their story.

For us, it always starts with defining why a brand matters at the highest level. We make it easier for a target audience to understand a technology and its role. From there, it’s all about creating the corporate narrative. Nailing the category, the positioning, and creating a strong value proposition and messaging to appeal to your top buying personas.

Brand strategy answers integral questions like: Why does your product matter? Why does it matter now? How is it different and better than what competitors are doing now? Sales teams need to understand the answers to these questions in order to be successful.

Knowing how to sell makes it easier for me to think about the end user buying our clients technology and how to best support a sales team with the tools they need to go to battle and more easily articulate this new way of doing business. We arm them with the tools that more easily helps them do what they do well — close deals.

Are there any challenges involved in bringing sales to the table?

Taking sales people out of the field is hard. So it’s important that we use them strategically and not waste their time. We don’t need everyone in sales involved in the process, but we make sure to include enough people so the strategy can benefit from their front-line experiences. They are very good at helping us gauge reality.

What’s the bottom-line payoff of bringing sales thinking to brand strategy?

There is so much exciting stuff going on in technology right now. For our clients’ customers, it’s hard to keep up to date and understand who’s going to bring the right value to their business. Brand strategy can help position a business to thrive – creating the right tools to go to market, and helping customers more clearly understand why a business matters and how it’s different. Using my sales background is a way for us to get to the heart of why the brand truly matters so we can create the right brand strategy.

This understanding helps create a value framework, situate the brand and its people for success, and ready a business to scale. Our work is about creating a brand that truly connects with people rationally and emotionally. A strategy doesn’t have real value unless it actually helps a brand reach the people who matter most to its business in meaningful ways. Bringing a sales mindset to the strategic table makes for a more impactful strategy. That’s the bottom line.

Emotive Brand is a San Francisco brand strategy agency.

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Tag: Technology